


tie my hair up top

by xerampelinae



Series: kko [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Music, Coda, M/M, POV Outsider, and they were ROOMMATES
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 23:13:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17089559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xerampelinae/pseuds/xerampelinae
Summary: “I am sure,” Matt says slowly, eying both of them with great suspicion, “that there is more to this than you are saying, but I will allow this omission for now, as long as you do something.”“Something?” Shiro says, cocking an eyebrow.“Look,” Matt says, brandishing a phone. Shiro accepts it and he and Keith lean together over its screen. “The internet has spoken and has asked--nay,demandsthat you apply the boob window to your boobs, Shiro!”-Behind the scenes on 'I luh ya papi.' A sweater dies a tragic, if noble death.





	tie my hair up top

“Alright--are you ready for the behind the scenes of kko’s cover of jlo’s amazing ‘I luh ya papi’--”

The camera spins rapidly as if mounted on an office chair and stops suddenly. “--Keith!” the camera operator yelps. “What are you doing here?!”

“Pidge said you wanted to see me,” Keith says, studying the operator. “To bring the spare sweater and Shiro.”

“Hi, Matt,” Shiro says, waving.

“How the fuck did you guys sneak up on me?” Matt demands. “I mean, Keith’s always like this, but how’d you do it, Shiro?”

“Oh,” Shiro says. “It’s not an interesting story, really.”

Beside him, Keith nods.

“See, I don’t believe you,” Matt says. “Because he says that exact thing every time anyone asks. And I’m part of his pyrotechnics and safety team--I see people ask a _lot._ ”

Keith and Shiro exchange a wordless look, and at once shrug. “Well, one of our landlords disliked when we made any amount of noise.”

“And?” Matt demands.

“We were too poor to buy out the lease,” Shiro says, “so we just learned to be quiet.”

“Yeah,” Keith says. “Sounds about right.”

“I am sure,” Matt says slowly, eying both of them with great suspicion, “that there is more to this than you are saying, but I will allow this omission for now, as long as you do something.”

“Something?” Shiro says, cocking an eyebrow.

“Look,” Matt says, brandishing a phone. Shiro accepts it and he and Keith lean together over its screen. “The internet has spoken and has asked--nay, _demands_ that you apply the boob window to your boobs, Shiro!”

Keith looks up with an intent look, not quite a glare. “You don’t have to do anything, Shiro,” he says.

“I’m actually kind of curious now,” Shiro says, lifting up the sweater. Off of a body, the sweater looks even smaller. “I don’t think I can fit in the hotpants though.”

“Oh my god,” Matt says, a little strangled. “I think this is enough? I don’t think any of us are strong enough for that, the earth might implode.”

“Keith?” Shiro says, and hands over the sweater. Keith takes it without protest, tossing it over his shoulder and ready to exchange Shiro’s shirt for the sweater. It’s a snug fit, and eventually requires Keith’s help to tug down past Shiro’s armpits. The seams strain and Shiro’s toned abdomen rises above the athletic leggings he’s wearing until he has to dress for the day’s shooting. He smooths out his hair and turns in place, arms half-raised as if to showcase the outfit. “How do I look?”

“You look fine,” Keith says, which is proof that Keith’s not human--at least not fully human, besides having the cooperation of the Blades of Marmora in his career--because Matt’s feeling like he’s both looking at the sun for too long and also like he can’t look away for the life of him. Keith had cleavage in the sweater, but Shiro has bottomless cleavage.

“Really?” Shiro says, looking down and letting his arms fall. Two things happen, in quick succession: the seemingly-decorative shining buttons at one shoulder free themselves with impunity--one whizzes right past the camera, the other flies up and destroys an overhead light--and the boob window tears open loudly, widening the aperture to expose both of Shiro’s nipples.

No one says anything for a long moment. Then there’s a flurry of movement in the background to inspect the damaged light.

“Oh, wow,” Shiro says, still looking down. “I wasn’t expecting that. I, um, I don’t know how to get out of this now.”

Shiro shifts slightly and another stitch tears open. Keith approaches assuredly, hands gentle at Shiro’s shoulders. The camera follows closely, entranced.

“It’s okay, Shiro,” Keith says. “It was my fault.”

“But Keith--” Shiro says, and then he stops dead, not even moving to breathe. Keith tears the rest of the sweater open with nothing more than determination and the strength of his hands; the fabric gives way easily. For a long moment, Shiro simply stares, mesmerized. The remnants of the sweater drift slowly down Shiro’s arms as Keith lowers his hands.

“See?” Keith says. “My fault. If you really feel bad, you’ll let me make nishime.”

Finally Shiro moves, sighing. “Keith,” he says, reaching out to grasp Keith’s arm, voice curling with laughter, “you don’t have to convince me, that’s one of my favorites.”

“I know,” Keith says.

-

“So, these are Thace and Ulaz from the Blades of Marmora,” Pidge narrates, “can you say ‘hi,’ guys?”

“Greetings, Technician Pidge,” Thace says.

“How are you?” Ulaz adds.

“Great, thank you! Hope you’re doing well too!” Pidge chirps determinedly. “Thanks for agreeing to the video--normally we don’t see you in leggings and bikini tops or as Keith’s back-up dancers.”

“That is correct,” Thace says, face even. “Normally we provide back-up instrumentation for Keith.”

“How’s that go?” Pidge asks.

“Keith is as proficient as expected of a child of our clan,” Ulaz says. “He does us honor.”

“Right,” Pidge says. “You know what? Look at the time--Matt’s calling for me. Thanks again for chatting with me!”

Thace and Ulaz nod sternly and stand, revealing the full details of their outfits: denim cut-offs matched with denim shirts tied up to expose the purple of the Blades’ waists. In their wedge sneakers, the Blades tower even higher over the humans than they normally do. It’s a good thing Coran outfitted Keith with extra tall heels; he takes after humans, height-wise.

“Oh my god,” Pidge mutters, watching the Blades stoically depart. “Their expressions never change.”

-

“You know,” Hunk says, usual headband gone, “when I slipped it was really scary and then Dr. Shirogane came in and was just so knowledgeable that I really wasn’t scared anymore. He’s like, Shiro the Hero. Really nice guy, you know?”

“Aw, Hunk,” Pidge says. “I’m glad.”

“He’s just,” Hunk says, looking around the empty studio, looking a little flushed, “he’s so nice? And handsome? I think my mom wants me to marry him? That or marry Keith, I’m not sure. They were so nice about everything even though it was really terrible.”

“That’s okay,” Pidge says. “I think everyone’s mom wants them to marry Shiro.”

-

“So, we’re here in the cutting room with Rizavi and Leifsdottir,” Pidge says. “Leifsdottir’s the one stitching everything together so we’ll have the, like, multitude of Shiro in the final cut. Can you tell us about the game you’ve come up with?”

“Well,” the blonde says without turning. “To combat boredom, Nadia searches the completed stitches for the one that was being filmed with Keith Kogane.”

“So,” Pidge says, “how do you know?”

“Oh, I look for the--” Rizavi’s next word is censored with a long tone, and she makes a startled face. “Wait, please censor that out, I can’t say that. I, um, I look for the one that Keith’s paying attention to.”

“Yeah, can do,” Pidge says. “Anything else for the fans?”

“Stay gold, Ponyboy!” Rizavi says.

-

“Well, Lance definitely could not have done that,” Allura says thoughtfully and distractedly, watching the clip of Shiro wash the car. “The hip movement on the man alone--are you _sure_ we cannot convince him that the entertainment industry is worth his full-time attention?”

“Kogane has stated before that Dr. Shirogane has an incredibly fulfilling career at the local hospital,” Leifsdottir says. “He has made several statements in support of Dr. Shirogane and his decision.

“Well,” Allura sighs. “That’s perfectly disappointing.”

-

“Before the unfortunate injury on set,” Lotor says, “Keith had mentioned his roommate to be a doctor of some sort. Now, of course we took that to mean that he and Shiro liked to ‘play doctor,’ if you know what I mean.”

“Obviously not,” Acxa intones.

“Yes, of course we know that now,” Lotor says. “Who knew that the handsome man he liked to introduced as _Doctor_ was actually a medical doctor and not some sort of sexual partner? It’s unimaginable!”

“Most people,” Acxa says. “Medical doctors are more common than you suggest, Lotor. And some of them do live with other people.”

“With a singer as successful as Keith?” Lotor says. “How unlikely.”

“Lotor,” Acxa says. “You may have declined the explanation concerning the origin of their friendship, but I did not. The unexpected thing is only that you cannot understand their relationship with your current frame of reference.”

“All I need to understand is the energy between them,” Lotor says, waving his hand dismissively. “At first, the leads of this music video were planned to be a study in visual contrasts, but Keith’s choice provides that as well as this delightful tension. One does not know whether to prefer watching or trying to--”

“--Alright,” Acxa says quickly. “That’s enough screentime for the next three years, Mr. Director.”

-

“Alright, Keith, to close things off, can you let us know what to expect in the future?” Matt says.

“This was a fun video,” Keith says. “I’d do it again.”

Matt waits, but Keith doesn’t say anything. “Well, I guess that’s it,” Matt says.

“Alright,” Keith says, and shifts forward in the chair. “Take care, Holts.”

“No!” Pidge says, cackling off-screen. The camera shakes as if its operator is hit--or maybe taking the weight of a sibling as they scale his body to safety--before tremulously stabilizing. “You can’t go yet--the floor is lava!”

Keith levels a cool stare just past the camera’s shoulder. “Shiro?” he calls.

Shiro wanders into frame, looking soft and wholesome in athleisurewear. “Keith?”

“The floor is lava,” Keith says, meeting Shiro’s eyes easily.

“No,” Pidge gasps from very close to the camera. “That’s cheating--Shiro has way more musculature than Matt!”

“Love you too, Pigeon,” Matt says drily.

Shiro sinks into an easy squat--Pidge helpfully zooms out because female gaze, yes please, _that ass_ \--and pulls Keith into his arms, straightening up with a marginal increase in effort. Keith drapes his arms around Shiro’s neck and waves as they stand to depart.

It’s kind of a lot. Keith and Shiro are both back in normal clothes that make them soft and approachable and less pure sex appeal. Keith still has his hair tied up into a high ponytail--probably not for oral sex reasons as the song says--but more loosely now, at the end of the shoot, and it frames his face flatteringly. And Shiro has the strength to back up the appearance of his muscles; Keith is less bulky than Shiro, but he’s still got some muscle to him. They turn--Shiro looking faintly amused and like he’s either going to carry Keith away for a romantic picnic or to feign a romantic picnic for some intensive sex that must be disguised as extended romantic carrying--so that Keith can face the Holts.

“See you at rehearsal,” Keith says. Then he and Shiro are gone--a ship departing in the night, effortlessly parting the waters that the set is--and the camera trembles ever so much in Matt’s hands.

“Was that real?” Matt says aloud. “I mean, it must be because you’re clinging to me and I’m dying, actually not very slowly.”

“But Matt,” Pidge says. “The floor is lava and I’m not going to lose.”

“Too late,” Matt says.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'I luh ya papi.' Is the clothing damage realistic? Hm, I don't know. I own like one boob window shirt and it's not nearly tight enough on me for experimentation.  
> Tootsonnewts--if you're reading this, please know that your comment on the last one inspired the sweater bit. Thank you.  
> Also thanks to my conspirator spookyfoot!


End file.
